chapter 3

Hearing Mia's remark, Zachary shot me an annoyed look.

He asked angrily, "Yvonne, are you aware that stalking is illegal?"

I refuted, "If shopping in a mall counts as stalking, then Mr. Shaw should probably call the police and have everyone who lays eyes on you arrested."

Zachary clearly didn't expect me to talk back in public. His face darkened as he prepared to retort, but a sales assistant interrupted him.

The limited-edition necklace Mia had her eye on had just arrived.

I recognized that piece. If I remembered correctly, it was priced at 3.2 million dollars.

Suddenly, a memory from my past life surfaced.

Around this same time, Zachary had told me to pick a birthday gift, his treat.

I ended up choosing a backpack priced at 20,000 dollars.

Back then, Zachary already had a seven-figure balance in his account. 20,000 dollars wasn't exactly a stretch for him.

But the moment he heard the price, his expression soured, and he backtracked on the spot.

He roared angrily at me, "Spending 20,000 on a bag is such a waste. Wasn't the 20-dollar backpack I got you before good enough?"

Truth was, I could've easily bought it myself back then.

But to protect his pride, I had to endure the sales assistant's condescending stare and nod along with him.

Now, though, I watched as he said to Mia:

"It's beautiful, but it's a bit too cheap for someone like you. It doesn't do you justice."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them again, I pointed to every item I liked and told the sales assistant to wrap them up.

Money?

I had a lot.

The sales assistant asked, "Miss, the total for these items is nearly three million dollars. Are you sure you want all of them?"

The sales assistant eyed the mountain of luxury goods piling up in front of me, then discreetly scanned my outfit.

Unfortunately, everything I wore today was from my "playing poor" days beside Zachary.

Not a single piece cost more than 50 dollars.

The once-polite sales assistant now looked at me with open disdain.

She probably assumed I was just throwing a pride-driven tantrum and had no intention of buying anything.

She thought I didn't recognize the brands and had no idea I'd just racked up a fortune in purchases.

Hearing the sales assistant's tone, Mia and Zachary stared in disbelief, their eyes nearly popping out.

They must have thought I'd lost my mind.

Zachary asked angrily,

"Yvonne Hayes, what do you think you're doing? Don't expect me to pay for any of this.

"Even if the bank card you're using was issued under my name, I can still report you for theft."

No sooner had he spoken than the sales assistant dropped all pretense and rolled her eyes at me.

She said scornfully,

"Miss, running around fetching all these items for you has taken up a lot of my time. If I miss a big sale because of this, could you even afford to compensate me?

"And here you are trying to steal someone else's man? You're not even fit to lick his wife's boots."

In stark contrast to my shabby appearance, Zachary and Mia, dripping in gold and jewels, were clearly this sales assistant's ideal customers.

To please them, she didn't hesitate to tear me down.

I asked her, "With an attitude like that, aren't you afraid I'll report you and get you fired?"

Mia, who'd just been flattered, immediately stepped in to shield the assistant.

She roared at me,

"Who do you think you are? Just a parasite clinging to Zachary! Did you really start believing you're some rich heiress?

"She's just judging by appearances. If you've got the guts, pay up right now!"

Hearing the word "parasite," Zachary smirked in understanding, his gaze filled with contempt and disgust.

To Mia, that smirk was like fuel to a fire.

The insults grew harsher and more aggressive.

Finally, I'd had enough. I pulled out a card and flung it straight at her face.

I shouted at her, "Open your eyes wide and look carefully: a Diamond Black Card. Something Zachary Shaw could never qualify for!"

The entire store fell into silence.